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The Luzerne County District Attorney’s office has taken an all-or-nothing approach when it comes to municipalities providing police coverage in neighboring communities, local officials say.

Two southern Luzerne County boroughs will lose thousands of dollars in revenue as a result.

The district attorney’s office is interpreting state law differently and will no longer allow police from one municipality to provide “spot coverage” in another community, according to officials in West Hazleton and Hazle Township.

The boroughs of Freeland and West Hazleton will be hit hardest, with Freeland losing approximately $34,000 it receives annually from a police patrol agreement with the Hickory Hills development in Foster Township.

West Hazleton, meanwhile, stands to lose $11,700 it receives each year through a similar intermunicipal policing arrangement with neighboring Hazle Township for providing police patrols one day per week at the Laurel Mall.

While community leaders say police budgets in Freeland and West Hazleton will take a substantial hit from the DA’s new interpretation of state law, they aren’t expecting furloughs.

West Hazleton police Chief Brian Buglio said the department will have to juggle line items in the police budget to make up for the lost revenue, which the borough counted on for funding a police patrol shift each week.

Buglio, however, emphasized that the development won’t impact public safety.

“(The revenue) definitely helped us out,” he said. “It’s going to have an impact on my budget. However, the public safety of the residents of West Hazleton will not be compromised.”

Officials in Freeland used approximately $34,000 the borough received through a police-coverage agreement with Hickory Hills Homeowners’ Association for buying a vehicle and hiring a police officer, council President David Mahon said.

Police layoffs aren’t expected in Freeland, but the borough will not replace a full-time officer who recently took a job in Butler Township, Mahon said.

“With him leaving, there is no impact on us,” Mahon said.

Mahon said representatives from several local communities attended a meeting at the state police Troop N barracks in West Hazleton to discuss the issue.

“From what I understand, the explanation was (policing agreements) created a lot of confusion — especially at 911 about who to call based on what section of the community you are in,” Mahon explained. “If you weren’t covering the entire municipality, they didn’t want you covering it.”

The development will also impact Freeland’s ability to provide police coverage for MMI Preparatory School, which is in Foster Township. The school can choose to contract with individual officers to patrol the grounds in plainclothes for games and events.

Hazle Township officials also participated in the meeting with state police and Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolle.

Township solicitor Charles Pedri sent a letter notifying West Hazleton of the development.

Sanguedolle could not be reached for comment on Friday.

More ramifications

In West Hazleton’s case, the borough patrols part of Laurel Mall that is in Hazle Township. Since the mall is partly in the township, it pays the “host municipality,” which relays the entire payment to West Hazleton, township supervisors’ Chairman William Gallagher.

According to Buglio, Pedri’s letter informed West Hazleton that the intermunicipal police contract with the borough will be terminated on July 24.

Buglio said he reached out to state Rep. Tarah Toohil’s office for further explanation.

“They told me state police had nothing to do with it — that (the decision) came from the DA’s office,” he said. “It’s under a statute that you can’t piecemeal coverage to a municipality. We weren’t able to take only a portion of that municipality over. If we wanted to take all of Hazle Township over, then yes, we’d be able to do that.”

West Hazleton council President Mark Yeager questioned timing of the DA’s review. The borough recently participated in a hearing for exiting state Act 47, which applies to financially distressed municipalities.

“They’re hitting us right in the middle of a budget cycle and they’re saying, ‘OK, we’re not going to allow that anymore,’” Yeager said. “If they’re going to do something like that, give us ample time or warning about that. Don’t do it in the middle of a budget.”

Yeager said the borough will have to evaluate its finances and possibly face “open (patrol) shifts where state police would have to cover the borough.”

“I don’t foresee layoffs, but we will have less people on the streets at times,” Yeager said.

Buglio, meanwhile, said the scenario also creates a hardship for management at the Laurel Mall.

The township doesn’t have its own police department to pick up the slack and though a consultant hired by the township and West Hazleton determined that both communities had the means to support a regional police force the concept never materialized, Buglio said.

“Why that fell apart is beyond me,” Buglio said. “When you look at the size of the municipality, the amount of crime, the tax base and the small amount of money — $72 (per person), I think it was — to have a full-time, 25-man department ... it’s still beyond me why the township doesn’t have a police department.”

Financial ramifications of the DA’s decision go far beyond mall patrols, Buglio said. Two large companies in Hazle Township have approached borough police with similar requests for police coverage. The county’s new interpretation of the law nixes any potential arrangements — and additional revenue West Hazleton could’ve realized, the chief said.

Gallagher, meanwhile, said the development won’t impact Hazle Township, which merely passed money the mall paid for police services onto West Hazleton.

“We have to cancel the agreement, that’s all it is,” Gallagher said.

State police patrol the mall every day except for Fridays and can “adjust schedules” accordingly, Gallagher said.

“On Fridays they will keep one (patrol unit) closer to the mall,” Gallagher said. “As far as I know, they will have their own (mall) security.”

If state police are handling a call and receive another call from one of the locations impacted by the recent development, they can ask the nearest police force to respond, Gallagher said.

sgalski@standardspeaker.com

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